Events

Parallels between Phonology and Syntax – Meertens Instituut Amsterdam

On June 9, the Meertens Instituut will host a workshop with the title “Parallels between Phonology and Syntax”.

Although syntax and phonology at first sight seem to study very similar objects – modules of human cognition involved with the form of language – the two disciplines seem to have grown apart, employing formal tools that differ radically.

According to some scholars, this is a logical and even desirable development, and a consequence of the methodological assumption that the mind is modular. There is then no need to believe that different ‘modules’ of grammar have a similar architecture or refer to similar objects. Others point out however, that it seems unlikely that modules that have such similar tasks and furthermore clearly have to interface would be so different.

What are the differences between syntax and phonology in terms of derivational mechanisms and representational devices? Are syntactic findings on the working of grammar still relevant to phonologists and vice versa? Do notions like constituency, features refer to ontologically similar objects or are they radically different?